AI chip startup Graphcore closes $200M Series D, adds BMW and Microsoft as strategic investors – TechCrunch UK AI chip startup Graphcore has announced a $200 million Series D round today that’s jointly led by two of its existing investors, European VC Atomico and investment holding firm Sofina. Graphcore says the Series …

Facebook open sources PyText natural language processing framework – TechCrunch Facebook AI Research is open sourcing some of the conversational AI tech it is using to power its Portal video chat display and M suggestions on Facebook Messenger. The company announced today that its PyTorch-based PyText NLP framework is now …

Companies tracking mutations in cancer cells can provide a key to unlocking better therapies – TechCrunch Investors and entrepreneurs are beginning to bring new diagnostic tools to market that promise better results for cancer patients through the identification of mutations in cancer cells that can create more targeted therapies. Earlier …

Prisma’s new AI-powered app, Lensa, helps the selfie camera lie – TechCrunch Prisma Labs, the startup behind the style transfer craze of a couple of years ago, has a new AI-powered iOS app for retouching selfies. An Android version of the app — which is called Lensa — is slated as coming …

Why you need a supercomputer to build a house – TechCrunch When the hell did building a house become so complicated? Don’t let the folks on HGTV fool you. The process of building a home nowadays is incredibly painful. Just applying for the necessary permits can be a soul-crushing undertaking …

Farmstead is an ambitious grocery delivery startup with plans to defeat Instacart – TechCrunch In its 3,000-square-foot warehouse in San Francisco’s Mission District, Farmstead founders Pradeep Elankumaran and Kevin Li, a pair of former Yahoo product managers, plot the future of grocery shopping. “Think of us as if Whole Foods was rebuilt …

Google is killing off Allo, its latest messaging app flop – TechCrunch It’s official: Google is killing off Allo. The messaging app was only launched in September 2016 but it was pretty much flawed from the word go with limited usage. Google was, once again, painfully late to the messaging game. …

Google invests in Japanese AI and machine learning startup ABEJA – TechCrunch Google has made a rare investment in Japan after the company led a follow-on round for AI and machine learning startup ABEJA. The deal amount is undisclosed but a little digging suggests that it is likely a single-digit million …

DeepMind claims early progress in AI-based predictive protein modelling – TechCrunch Google -owned AI specialist, DeepMind, has claimed a “significant milestone” in being able to demonstrate the usefulness of artificial intelligence to help with the complex task of predicting 3D structures of proteins based solely on their genetic sequence. Understanding protein …